Container



CONTAINER Filed June 22, 1951 ZQQ I w 2, Q/ I %/z INVENTOR Step/wenLighter 2,842,261 Patented July 8,1958

United States Patent Ofiice.

CONTAINER Stephen Lighter, Milwaukee, Wis. Application June 22, 1951,Serial No. 232,969 1 Claim (Cl. 206-4531) This invention relates tocontainers and more particularly to a device for holding and displayinga number of articles in unitary relationship.

It is therefore an outstanding object of this invention to provide acontainer-formed of sheet material which will retain a number ofarticles in assembled relation for shipment and sale. I I r Anotherobject of the present invention is the provision of a container whichretains articles by means of resiliently-biased opposed portions of saidcarton.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container which clampscontained articles between opposed flanges of the container, the flangesbeing resiliently biased in a novel manner.

it is a still'further object of the instant invention to provide aflangefor a container which flange is resiliently biased in asirfiplefineirpensive manner.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a container whichholds a number of articles in assembled relation and, at the same time,displays them.

- Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a displaycontainer which involves little wastage of material and yet sacrificesnone of its usefulness in retaining articles.

A still further object of this invention lies in a novel method offorming a resilient clamping flange on containers formed of sheetmaterial.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of adisplay container which can be fabricated cheaply and efficiently ofinexpensive sheet material by unskilled labor on automatic machinery.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic ofthis invention will be particularly pointed out in the claim appendedhereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, the modeof its operation and the manner of its organization may be betterunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which:

Figure l is'a plan view of the container of the present invention indismantled condition and with portions thereof broken away for the sakeof illustration.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container of the invention inassembled condition and shown retaining a number of small packages inunitary relationship.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of the assembly shownin Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure land looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 shows a sectional view of a side of the container of theinvention in an intermediate condition.

Figure 6 shows an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6-6 ofFigure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 shows a greatly enlarged view of a modification of theinvention,

Like reference characters al figures of the drawings.

In the past the state of the container art has been such that a givencontainer either did not display the articles embraced by it, in whichcase the container could be built fairly strongly; or it did display itscontents, in which case the usefulness of the container as a retaining,-

strengthening,-and protecting agent was limited. The use of transparentwindows is not desireable in many applications because of the expenseinvolved in fabricating such a style of carton. In other words, anyemphasis on strength, etc., has resulted in a loss of ability todisplay, and vice versa. The applicant, in his Patent Number 2,395,558,disclosed a carton which overcomes the ditficulties described above.v.The present invention involves. a container which accomplishes asimilar end, as will be evident from the. description which follows.

Referring first toFigure 1, the container of the invention is shown inthe form in which it exists prior to being formed into a container. Itis an elongated blank made of paperboard, sheet plastic,'or any othersheet material having the desired characteristics. The container blankmay be formedof strip material and die-cut on an automatic machine. Itcan be seen that very little wastage results. The container consistsgenerally of elongated side walls 9 and 10, shown with portions brokenaway because of drawing limitations. Adjoining these side walls areshorter end walls 11 and 12. The side and end walls are defined one fromanother by transverse score lines 13. One extremity of the'blank isformed with an i ntegral, transversely scored flap defined from theadjacent side wall 9 by a score line 13. The flap 14 is provided with atongue 16 pressedfrom the central portion thereof and a tongue 15 formedon its-periphery. .Theother end of the blank is formed with, arelatively short flap 18. In the central portion of the end panel 12 aretwo opposed slits 17.

Running along the free edges of the side walls 9 and 10 areinwardly-directed flanges 19, to be described further later, and alongthe free edges of the end panels 11 and 12 are flanges 20 having roundedends. The construction of the flanges 19 and 20 can best be shown byreference to Figure 4 which shows an enlarged transverse sectional viewtaken through the wall 11. After the blank has been die-cut, the flanges20 are folded in against the wall 11, as shown in the drawing. Then, thearea-adjacent the juncture of the wall and flange is provided with astiffening means such as the coating 21. In the preferred embodimentthis coating is of a plastic material. Instead of a coating, however,the stiffening means may be a plastic impregnation, as shown in Figure7, or a lamination of sheet material; the important feature is that thestiifening means be such that there is a considerable resistance tomovement of the flange away from the wall.

This come about when the material of the lamination impregnation, orcoating has a greater elasticity than the container material and isapplied when the flange is adjacent the wall. When the flange is movedaway from the wall to the position shown in Figure 5, the stiffeningmeans resists this movement and, when the flange is released, it returnsto its initial position adjacent the wall. Furthermore, it can be seenthat when an object 22 is placed between opposite flanges, as in Figure6, in such a manner that the flanges are almost at right angles to thewall. In that position the flanges exert a strong clamping force on theobject.

By reference to Figure 2, which best shows the manner in which advantageis taken of the unusual features of thedenote like parts in the sever-Furthermore, the flanges 20 clamp all four sides of the object 22 andhold it firmly in place within the container. An examination of Figure 3shows the manner in which the flanges are arranged preferably with theflanges of the end walls overlying the flanges of the side walls. It canbe seen that the object is displayed in a novel way and, at the sametime, is protected and enclosed in such a manner as to be consistentwith the ordinary requirements for strength, etc.

The method of arriving at the resiliently-biased flange deserves furtherdescription. As has been stated above, the stiffening means may be acoating or impregnation, usually of a material in liquid form whichlater hardens, or a lamination of sheet material. In any case thematerial in the final state must have a substantially greater elasticitythan the material of which the container is formed. In other words,while the joint between the wall and the flange would ordinarily bestressed beyond the elastic limit and would not tend to return theflange to its initial position adjacent the wall, the stiffening meansis not so stressed and continues to bias the flange properly. However,it is not necessary in most applications that the stiffening means beable to withstand repeated stresses of the sort encountered when theflange is rotated ninety degrees or more from the plane of the wall. Itis important that the stiflening means be applied at a point in theconstruction of the box when the flanges are folded inwardly and lie injuxtaposition to their respective walls on the side thereof that islater to become the inside surface of the box. This is substantially thecondition of the container blank shown in Figure 1. it can be seen that,once the stiffening means has reached its final state, it will attemptto return the flange to this initial, unstressed condition when theflange is rotated out of the plane of the wall. This resilient bias isused to retain the contents of the container, as has been described.

While certain novel features of the invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it will beunderstood that various omissions, substitutes, and changes in the formsand details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto secure by Letters Patents is:

A blank for a display container formed of sheet material comprising afirst rectangular side wall, a flap hingedly attached to one edge of thefirst side wall, a first rectangular end wall hingedly attached to theedge of thc first side wall opposite the flap, a second rectangular sidewall hingedly attached to the edge of the first end wall opposite thefirst side wall, a second rectangular end wall hingedly attached to theedge of the second side wall opposite the first end wall, said flap andsaid second end wall being formed with tongue and slot means adapted tointerlock with one another, integral flanges hingedly attached to thefree edges of the side and end walls, a stiffening means applied totheneighborhood of the at tachment of the flanges to the free edges ofthe walls, said stiffening means biasing said flanges so that theynormally rest adjacent to their respective walls and resiliently resistmovement therefrom, said stiffening means consisting of a lamination ofsheet material having a substantially greater elasticity than the sheetmaterial of which the wall and flange are formed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,444,404 Wagernaker Feb. 6, 1923 1,754,060 Striss Apr. 8, 19302,021,950 Thomas Nov. 26, 1935 2,032,351 Chaplin Mar. 3, 1936 2,099,936Kieckhefer Nov. 23, 1937 2,388,267 Iunkin Nov. 6, 1945 2,395,558 LighterFeb. 26, 1946 2,548,985 Lighter Apr. 17, 1951

